Life as They Knew It
by iMelinda
Summary: Based on the novel by Susan Beth Pfeffer. The giant meteor crashes into the moon and knocks it off balance. Tidal waves, volcanoes, starvation. But how does this effect the warrior cats? Join ThunderClan as they face the most difficult newleaf ever.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

"Does it have to happen?"

"It must."

"Why are we doing this?"

"It is not of our doing."

"There is something more powerful than StarClan? Besides the apprentices, I mean."

"We do not control the heavens."

"And we let them believe that we do? We let them believe that it is us who send clouds to cover the moon? We let them believe that we send the signs?"

"The Clans would collapse if they knew the truth."

"So what will they make of this sign?"

"They will think that we turned our backs on them."

"Like so many of them have to us."

"Not yet, Spottedleaf, not yet. Blackstar's faith is wavering, but he is still a believer."

"This will make him change his mind completely."

"It cannot be stopped."

"But can't we help them?"

"There is nothing we can do, Spottedleaf."

"It's not like you to give up so easily, Bluestar."

"I repeat: there is nothing we can do. This will end all Life as They Knew It."

* * *

Jaypaw blinked awake uneasily. It unsettled him to be blind in dreams. They were usually the only place he could see, but in this dream everything had been lost in shadow. He couldn't even identify the voices until they had spoken the names.

He forgot this quickly, though. There was something much more pressing to think about. Bluestar's parting line had scared him. What could be so big, so dangerous, that it would destroy the Clans forever? Was it twolegs?

All around him, he could hear the sounds of the other medicine cats awakening. The soft plash of water hitting water as the stream trickled into the Moonpool filled his ears. Jaypaw was aware of Leafpool lying beside him. She seemed nervous, just as he was.

"What did you dream of?" he meowed to her in an undertone.

"Wait," Leafpool mewed back, equally hushed. Jaypaw heard her bound over to the other medicine cats.

"Did you dream of trouble?" Barkface asked.

"Something dangerous yet to come." It sounded like Littlecloud would be nodding as he said this.

"Worse than the twolegs in the old forest?" Mothwing mewed uncertainly.

Jaypaw knew very well that Mothwing hadn't had the same dream as he had, or any of the other medicine cats for that matter. The RiverClan she-cat didn't believe in StarClan. She just came to the Moonpool to get that good night of sleep that she couldn't seem to get at the camp.

Her apprentice, Willowpaw, believed, though. Jaypaw felt the other apprentice's eyes on his back, and he turned to face her. Neither of them had been alive when the twolegs had destroyed the old forest, but they both trembled with fear at the thought of having to leave their homes.

"Did you dream of the trouble, too?" Jaypaw asked her.

"Yes," Willowpaw mewed uncertainly.

"It must be big if it came to all of us," he thought out loud.

"All of the other medicine cats seem to be on edge. Were the twolegs really that bad?"

"Willowpaw, they drove them out of the forest. Most cats nearly starved."

"But it was nearly leafbare then," she pointed out. "It's newleaf now. I wouldn't be too worried about starving."

Leafpool padded over to them, ending their conversation. "We're leaving, Jaypaw." Her mew trembled.

Now Jaypaw seemed skeptical about the danger. StarClan had prophesized trouble hundreds, maybe thousands of times before. Why were they making such a big deal out of it now?

He stayed quiet the whole way back to camp. He was thinking about the dream. StarClan rarely sent such important dreams to apprentices, so maybe it _was_ big. Very big. Big enough to wipe out all of the Clans.

ThunderClan seemed to agree with him. As he approached the camp, he could hear uneasy murmurs coming out of the stone hollow.

_Wait a minute,_ Jaypaw thought. _They shouldn't know about the trouble! Leafpool and I aren't even back yet._

He was almost to camp when he realized that Leafpool was no longer with him. Jaypaw backtracked till he was standing with his mentor. Her neck was stretched up. She seemed to be looking at the sky.

"Leafpool?" Jaypaw asked nervously. "What's wrong?"

"The moon," she whispered.

_ Yes, the moon is shining,_ he thought sarcastically. _It does just about every night!_

"What about the moon?" he asked.

"Something's flying toward it." Leafpool sounded scared. It didn't surprise Jaypaw, though. He was still a little on edge about the dream, too.

"Like a shooting star?" he asked hopefully. Jaypaw had never seen one before, but they were supposed to bring good luck to the Clans.

"No," she mewed. "It's too big to be a star. It's the biggest thing I've ever seen in the sky, besides the moon itself."

_Why can't I see?_ Jaypaw thought desperately. _Something important is happening, and all I can see is darkness!_

Suddenly, Leafpool gasped. Screams filled the forest. Jaypaw put his tail over his ears, trying to block out the sound. "What's happening?" he meowed. _Is it the danger?_

"The moon," his mentor whispered again. Her voice sounded hoarse.

"It was hit?" Jaypaw pressed.

"Yes." Leafpool sounded near faint.

"So? The moon gets hit all the time. I'll bet that how it gets those strange markings."

"This is… different."

"Different how? What difference can one big rock make?"

"It's not a half moon anymore, Jaypaw." His mentor wasn't even trying to control the tremor in her voice.

"What are you talking about?" Now Jaypaw was sure his mentor was pulling his paw. Any instant now, the serious tone would be gone and she'd meow playfully, "Tricked you!"

"The rock, the shooting star, what ever the accursed thing was, it hit the moon. It hit it very hard," Leafpool meowed.  
"I know that!" Jaypaw mewed frustratedly.

"It's big."

"Yes, of course it's big! It's the biggest thing in the night sky, you just said so yourself!"

"No, Jaypaw, you don't understand. It's big_ger_."

"How is that even possible?"

"I don't know, Jaypaw. But it's not a half moon anymore. It's almost three-quarters. And it doesn't look right. It's too big. It's taking up too much space."

And with that, his mentor bolted back to camp.

_What was that about?_ Jaypaw wondered. _Is it part of the prank? Or what if she was serious? Is this the beginning of the trouble StarClan prophesized?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One**

"What is it? What's happening?"

"What's wrong with the moon?"

"What have we done wrong? Why is StarClan punishing us?"

Terrified yowls filled the camp. Hollypaw jolted out of sleep and sat up in her nest. She had gone straight to bed after her evening meal, because she had been hunting all day and Brackenfur had worn her out. Something was going on, and she was missing out!

Hollypaw scrambled out of her nest and left the apprentice den. As she hurried into the clearing in the middle of the hollow, she noted that all the other nests were empty. Then Hollyleaf gasped.

She had eyes for only one thing as she reached the clearing: the moon. It had been a half moon earlier when she went to sleep – she remembered because her brother, Jaypaw, had gone to the medicine cat meeting with his mentor, Leafpool. But it wasn't a half moon anymore. It was tilted on a strange angle, like a three-quarter moon, and it was huge. It was as if the StarClan warriors up in the sky had pushed the moon closer to Earth.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Firestar's cry finally tore Hollypaw's eyes away from the moon. She sat down next to Jaypaw where the rest of the Clan was gathered beneath the Highledge. It wasn't really necessary for Firestar to call them together – no cats were in the dens and it seemed that every cat had witnessed exactly what happened except for Hollypaw. She clenched her teeth in frustration.

"Cats of ThunderClan," Firestar began. "We do not know what has happened to the moon tonight."

"Was it a sign from StarClan?" Thornclaw interrupted.

Firestar ignored him. "But regardless of this, ThunderClan shall remain strong."

His words didn't have the impact he had intended. The Clan exchanged worried murmurs and nervous glances.

"Life shall continue as usual – apprentices will train with their mentors, warriors will hunt and patrol the borders. The sign – if it is a sign – does not affect ThunderClan alone. We share the moon with the other Clans. We shall discuss it at the next Gathering."

"Firestar," Leafpool spoke up. "I had a dream tonight at the Moonpool. I think it may have to do with whatever hit the moon."

_So something hit the moon!_ Hollyleaf realized. What could it have been, to push such a huge object so far?

"What did you dream, Leafpool?" Firestar asked.

The medicine cat swallowed. "I dreamed that trouble is coming to the Clans. Serious trouble. I received a prophecy – _After lunar catastrophe, StarClan will fall, and the Clans will be no more._"

Hollypaw felt Jaypaw stiffen beside her. The fur on the back of her neck was standing on end, and she could hear cries of dismay coming from her Clanmates. Her own mother – Squirrelflight – pushed her muzzle into Brambleclaw's fur. Ferncloud drew Foxkit and Icekit close to her. Then the Clan all began talking at once. Firestar finally had to let out another yowl to get them to quiet down.

"Thank you for letting us know," he meowed. "ThunderClan will prepare themselves for what is coming."

"But how can we?" Dustpelt called. "This prophecy sounds like it's going to be the end of the world."

"The end of life as they knew it…" Jaypaw murmured.  
"What?" Hollypaw asked, perplexed.

"That's what Bluestar – the leader of ThunderClan before Firestar – said in my dream tonight," he explained. "She was talking to another cat… Spottedleaf, I think. There's some big disaster coming, and it must be connected to the moon."

Before Hollypaw could reply to this shocking news, Cloudtail came bursting into the camp. Mousepaw and Spiderleg were following him; Hollypaw guessed that they'd been on patrol together.

"Firestar! Firestar!" Cloudtail yowled. "There's a ShadowClan patrol on our territory!"

More meows of shock came from the assembled Clan.

"Nothing to worry about," Firestar assured them. "Cloudtail, take a few other warriors and go drive them off."

"No need, Firestar," came a mew from the thorn tunnel. Tawnypelt, Brambleclaw's sister, stood at the entrance to the camp. Cowering behind her were another ShadowClan warrior and an apprentice.

"Why are you on our territory?" Dustpelt demanded, unsheathing his claws. Firestar silenced him with a glance.

"Let Tawnypelt explain," Firestar meowed calmly.

"Thank you, Firestar," Tawnypelt mewed, dipping her head. "I wouldn't come to you for help except in cases of direst need – and this would be dire need. Just after the moon was hit, Blackstar started coughing. He's been coughing ever since, and now Littlecloud says he's running a fever."

"Isn't Littlecloud helping him?" Leafpool interjected.

"He's doing his best, but we don't have any of the feverfew that will save him." Tawnypelt sounded desperate. "We were hoping that if you had some, you might share it with us."

Ashfur stood up. "Why should we help them? It might be a trap!"

Tawnypelt glared at him. "I swear to StarClan, I'm not lying to you. My leader is _dying_, and we need your help."

"I think we should go."

Hollypaw looked at her brother in surprise. What made him so certain?

"We have more than enough feverfew," Leafpool meowed, nodding in agreement. "We wouldn't ignore a Clan in need."

Firestar looked thoughtful. "All right, Leafpool, you can go. You're right – if we have the herbs to help him, there's no reason we should let Blackstar suffer. Besides, it's nearly Greenleaf, and we will have plenty of herbs soon."

"But what if we need those herbs in Leafbare, and we don't have them because we gave them away moons before?" Mousefur challenged.

"It won't be an issue," Firestar meowed firmly. "Leafpool, I think it's best if you leave quickly."

"Can I come, too?" Jaypaw asked his mentor. Leafpool looked up at Firestar for approval. When their leader nodded, Leafpool bounded over to Tawnypelt.

"Fetch the feverfew," Leafpool told her apprentice.

Jaypaw padded quickly over to the medicine den. Hollypaw followed him.

"You will be careful, right?" she asked him. "What if it's a trap?

"It's not a trap," Jaypaw replied with the same certainty as before. He pawed through the herbs, finding the ones he needed as easily as if he could see them.

"How can you know?" Hollypaw meowed.

"I just do." Jaypaw's mew was firm as he swept out of the den, leaving Hollypaw alone with a pile of dried herbs and her thoughts.

Why did her brother act like he knew everything? Did all medicine cats know secrets that other cats didn't? Or was there something special about Jayfeather?

And what, in the name of StarClan, had happened to the moon?

Jaypaw followed Leafpool and the ShadowClan cats out of the camp, the bundle of feverfew clutched tightly in his jaws. Tawnypelt set a brisk pace, and Jaypaw was struggling to keep up.

He curled his lip as they crossed the ShadowClan border; the stench of their border markings filled his nose and blocked out all of the other scents. Near the camp, though, Jaypaw smelled fresh ShadowClan scent. It was filled with fear.

Tawnypelt finally slowed her pace as they reached the camp entrance. It seemed strangely quiet to Jaypaw; wouldn't there be more noise if this was a camp housing many cats? The silence seemed to frighten Tawnypelt, and she burst into the camp. _Shouldn't some cat be guarding the entrance? _Jaypaw wondered as he followed her in.

Jaypaw could smell a large group of cats gathered together near the center of the camp. A single, eerie wail split the silence.

"We're too late," Leafpool whispered.

Suddenly, Jaypaw knew what lay in the midst of the ShadowClan cats.

Tawnypelt dropped to the ground and lay, grieving, like her Clanmates. The apprentice and warrior from her patrol followed suit.

Jaypaw heard his mentor speaking with Littlecloud, the ShadowClan medicine cat.

"How did this happen?" she whispered. "I thought he had three lives left."

"I don't know." Littlecloud's mew was choked with grief. "It came on so suddenly, and then he was just so weak…" He trailed off into silence.

Jaypaw couldn't bear the cloud of grief surrounding the camp anymore. He left the grieving Clan for the forest. Suddenly, the darkness lifted, and he found himself looking at Yellowfang. The old, gray she-cat looked grim.

"_After lunar catastrophe, StarClan will fall -_" she began.

"I know," Jaypaw interrupted her. "Leafpool told us."

Yellowfang ignored him. "_StarClan will fall, and the time for the Three will be upon us._ Jaypaw, it is up to you and your siblings to help the Clans – all six Clans - through this terrible time."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Lionpaw glanced up at the sky nervously. He could still see the moon, even though it was nearly sunhigh. He shuddered. _I'm _never _going to get used to this_, he thought.

"Lionpaw!"

His mentor's call jolted his attention away from the moon. Lionpaw turned to look at Ashfur. The gray warrior was standing with Sorreltail and Berrynose.

"Border patrol," Ashfur explained. "We're going to check the WindClan border."

"Okay." Lionpaw padded over to join them.

"After what happened last night, cats will be panicking," Ashfur explained. "We need to make sure they're not raiding our territory."

"But what about the ShadowClan border?" Lionpaw wondered. "It seems more like ShadowClan to steal prey for no good reason."

Ashfur sighed. "They probably won't try anything, given the Clan's condition."

Lionpaw looked down. It was a terribly sad thing when a leader died.

"Are we going to stand here all day?" Berrynose mewed impatiently.

Ashfur shook his head, as if shaking away and obnoxious fly. "No, of course not," he meowed. "Let's go."

The four cats walked out of the camp and into the forest. As they emerged from the thorn barrier, Lionpaw shivered and looked up at the sky in surprise. Dark storm clouds were inching their way towards the sun.

Sorreltail followed his gaze. "We'll want to be back in camp before that hits," she mewed with a shudder. Ashfur stepped up the pace.

The first drops of rain were beginning to fall as the patrol reached the moor. It had grown quite dark; the clouds have obscured the entire sky. They marked the border hurriedly. There was no scent of WindClan except for the stale markers that had been set the day before. Thunder rumbled overhead, and Lionpaw trembled. He wished he was safe in his den.

"Let's head back," Ashfur meowed. "I was hoping we'd be able to catch some prey, but it's dangerous to be out here now."

They retraced their path back to the stone hollow. The rain began to fall in earnest, pounding down against the earth. Lionpaw bristled as a heavy drop landed on his nose and splashed into his eyes. He dabbed at the water clumsily with his paw, and became frustrated when his vision didn't clear. Then he realized that his eyes were working fine; the rain was falling in such heavy sheets that he could barely see his Clanmates in front of him. He could make out three muddled shapes through the fog, but they could be small bushes for all he knew.

"Ashfur?" Lionpaw had to yowl to make himself heard above the pounding rain and roaring wind. He scrabbled at the ground with his claws, trying to hold himself down. He felt like he was going to be blown away like a thin leaf, never to be seen again.

"I'm here!" came the faint reply. Lionpaw squinted, but couldn't tell which of the shapes the voice came from.

For a split second, they could all see as a sharp bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, and then it went dark again. Lionpaw jumped into the air at the roll of thunder that followed, and blew several tail-lengths to the side as the wind caught him.

"Ashfur," Lionpaw wailed. He whimpered as he landed hard on the ground. He was too terrified to be embarrassed of the weakness he was showing.

He stood up on trembling legs and promptly walked into something. He heaved a sigh of relief as he realized it was another cat, but through the rain he couldn't make out the scent.

"Lionpaw?" the cat asked.

"Sorreltail!" cried Lionpaw. He pressed himself close to the tortoiseshell she-cat.

"We have to get back to camp!" she yowled. "It'll be more sheltered."

More lightning flashed. It seemed to reach out of the sky like a spindly arm with thin fingers. The bolt struck a pine next to Lionpaw and Sorreltail, and they both yelped and jumped back as it caught fire. The flames were extinguished quickly by the downpour, but not before a searing branch landed on top of them. Sorreltail howled in pain.

The branch sizzled as the fire went out. Lionpaw tried to stand up, tried to push the branch off of them.

"Are you okay?" he asked Sorreltail.

"I've been better," she whimpered. She stretched as well, but winced as her back brushed the bark. "I think my fur's been singed off," she moaned.

The rain began to ease off. _Thank StarClan_, Lionpaw thought.

With a final heave, the branch slid off of the two cats. Once it was gone, Lionpaw could see Berrynose and Ashfur huddled underneath a bush near them.

"Ashfur!" he called. The gray tom looked up and sighed with relief as he spotted Lionpaw and Sorreltail. He prodded Berrynose in the back and the two climbed out from under the bush. Ashfur took the lead again. Lionpaw trailed at the back and supported Sorreltail as she limped along next to him.

"I think the worst is-" he began, but was cut off by the loudest rumbled of thunder yet. Simultaneously, the third lightning bolt flashed and struck the ground.

Lionpaw and Sorreltail were thrown back by the force of it. Lionpaw thought he might be blinded by the brightness of it, but almost instantly his vision cleared.

Through now light rain, he could see a black scorch mark on the ground where the lightning had hit. Ashfur and Berrynose were no where to be seen.

"Berrynose?" Sorreltail shouted. "Ashfur?"

A quaking figure rose from behind a branch. It was Berrynose. "I'm here," he meowed shakily.

"Where's Ashfur?" asked Lionpaw.

The cream-colored tom shook his head. "I don't know. He was right in front of me before the lightning hit."

"He can't be far," Sorreltail murmured.

"Ashfur!" Lionpaw called. A sinking suspicion weighed heavily on his heart, but he chose to ignore it for the moment. "Ashfur!"

The three cats walked slowly forward, scanning the landscape for the gray tom. Sorreltail let out a squeak as she tripped over something, and shrieked as she realized what it was.

Lionpaw hurried over. "What is it?" he asked.

Silently, Sorreltail pointed at it. Lionpaw felt like he was going to be sick.

It was the charred skeleton of an unmistakably feline shape. All the fur, skin, and muscle had been burned away. But Lionpaw knew exactly who it was.

"Ashfur," he whispered, and the world turned black.

Lionpaw opened his eyes to see many anxious faces above him. _Where am I?_ he wondered. _How did I get here?_

One of the faces belonged to Hollyleaf. "He's awake!" she cried happily.

Lionpaw struggled to sit up. He gazed around him, trying to get his bearings. From the strong smell of herbs in the air, he guessed he was in the medicine den. Sure enough, Jaypaw was making some kind of poultice and rubbing it onto Sorreltail's burned back and shoulders.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You fainted," Leafpool meowed briskly. "If Berrynose hadn't caught you, you may have banged your head and had a concussion, but you seem to be okay."

"Is Sorreltail all right?"

Jaypaw looked over at his brother. "Her back and shoulders are badly burned from the branch, but I'm pretty sure she'll live."

"Berrynose?"

"Just some minor scratches," Leafpool confirmed.

"Ashfur..?" Lionpaw trailed off as he remembered.

Leafpool's expression became sympathetic. "Sorreltail told me what happened," she mewed softly. "It sounds like the lightning hit him. He probably didn't feel any pain at all."

Lionpaw, again, felt like he was going to be sick. His mentor – gone?

"I'm sorry," Hollypaw meowed, pressing her muzzle against his cheek. "It must stink to lose your mentor."  
"I can't accept it," he sighed.

"I'll always be here for you," promised Hollypaw.

A wave of anger swept through Lionpaw. "How can you?" he demanded. "What happened to Ashfur could have happened to _any_ cat! We're all going to die, and all because of the stupid moon!"


End file.
